The worst show in modern times has been the ongoing Republican primary campaign, a disgust and an embarrassment thanks to the sycophantic pandering of the candidates to the extreme right wing of the GOP and its appeal to the lowest common denominators in American politics.

Yet I say, applause, applause and bravo! Let’s give thanks for it. What appears to be an unending clown act is so much more.

It’s an audition for how the GOP will run this country should the voters unwisely catapult them into total and complete power after next November’s elections. You see, even the great stage acts offered on Broadway, no matter how awful in conception, begin rehearsal somewhere else, either in some Skid Row vaudeville hall, or on the road in low-ball joints in the hicksvilles of states like Ohio and Florida.

There, in spit-filled auditoriums, the kinks are worked out before the curtain rises on the Great White Way in New York City for the opening act of a long run.

This is the Great Republican Play that is being crafted as this is written, and you’ve seen some of the real lowlights, my friends: Republican candidates for the presidency of the United States cheering on audiences who want more people to die in electric chairs.

Booing gay soldiers serving their country in wartime.

Applauding torture … in short, an ongoing appreciation of all the unwisdom of the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney years, and an ardent desire for more of the same.

And you ain’t seen nothing yet.

If you think the audition stinks, wait for the real horror show should Republicans take complete control of Congress and the presidency. Remember, it won’t matter how big a majority the Republicans gain.

We have seen in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and Michigan, that no matter how tiny the margin of victory, or how unpopular the governor or his initiatives, the agenda will be bullied through regardless.

Nice knowing you, teachers, unions, middle-class families!

All it will take for the next Republican president to declare a “mandate” for the sweeping right-wing docket of fun to be ushered in will be a single-member majority in the House of Representatives, a tie in the Senate (the vice president can break this), and a one-vote margin in the Electoral College. The Senate filibuster rule, used to bottleneck any and all Democratic initiatives during Obama’s term, will be given immediate attention. In another words, the Republicans will deep-six it with substantial changes or penalties for its use, in order to allow a majority vote to finally prevail.

Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It has been so abused by the Rs that it has become a destructive tool. In fact, I would hope Democrats do the same if they prevail.

But with the filibuster rule gone, the U.S. Supreme Court will be a sitting duck for conservatives, who now hold a tenuous majority on it.

Any vacancy would be filled by an anti-choice zealot in the Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia mold, and that would that for Roe vs. Wade, not to mention the Miranda Rule and challenges to any aspect of executive privilege for the White House.

Next, I don’t expect Obamacare to last more than a minute once Republicans take over. Trust me, you will learn to love your health insurance company again.

Medicare?

You have to ask? The Paul Ryan plan to cripple Medicare as we know it was passed overwhelmingly by the current House majority, including an enthusiastic “Yes!” vote by West Michigan Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland.

Ryan’s plan died in the Democratic Senate, but in a Republican administration, it would re-animate like Frankenstein's monster and you would have a discount coupon to look forward to instead of comprehensive senior health care in your old age.

Social Security, labeled a “failure” by Republicans, would be transformed, undoubtedly, into a glorified 401(k) program that would carry with it the thrill of the stock market roller coaster. The GOP’s Wall Street friends can’t wait to get their hands on your retirement nest egg.

Do you miss the Iraq War? Already?

Well, fear not.

The Republican candidates have made it perfectly clear, to paraphrase another GOP legend, the late Richard Nixon, that they can’t wait to go nuclear on Iran. Never mind that the mullahs don’t have a single verified nuke in their arsenal, the Republicans are antsy to throw our troops into another Middle East conflict with frightening consequences.

As the troops used to say about Gen. George “Blood and Guts” Patton: “Yeah, our blood and his guts.”

The idea of war with Iran makes one nostalgic for the good old Cold War days when we were toe-toe with the Russkies, who had thousands of nukes aimed at our heartland.

But wait. We didn’t go to war then! Oh, well. Nothing to see here. Move along.

A Republican majority in Congress and their flunky in the White House would tear out all of those nettlesome regulations that are preventing our friends, their corporate paymasters, from making even more obscene profits.

Who needs food safety inspectors, the Clean Water Act, clear skies and fripperies like the National Weather Service?

Our friends in the private sector will happily take over, for a price, of course, if you can afford it.

Yes, it will be a quite a show if the Republicans take over in November.

You won’t need popcorn.

But you will need a barf bag.

David Kolb is former editorial page editor of The Muskegon Chronicle. Email: writersgroupllc@gmail.com